Lipstick and Study Notes: Urban Decay

, by Rowan

My Favorite Brushes

Hello Everyone!

One of the most important things in how well you do makeup is the quality of your brushes. Where you can get away with getting some cheaper quality makeup, a makeup brush isn't something you can just buy from the dollarstore (or poundland, or Action-you know where I'm going with this). This doesn't mean that you have to go and spend all your savings on the Tom Ford brush collection, it just means that it's better to buy one higher quality brush every once in a while and slowly build up your collection, than spending that same amount of money on a whole set that's -let's be honest- probably not going to be any good.

Of course, as to any rule, there are exceptions. There's loads of people who like to use Primark or other cheap brushes and have found they actually work great for them, which is awesome! I just wanted to mention the price/quality connection because I've heard a lot of people say they are not good at applying makeup, when a lot of the time it's because their brushes are horrible and even the best makeup artist can't be as good with crappy brushes.

Another exception is of course Real Techniques. This brand was set up by the awesome Sam and Nic Chapman (also known as Pixiwoo on youtube), two amazing makeup artists who know exactly what a good brush is. Therefor, their brushes are amazing quality but -luckily for us- also really well priced. Rather than spending up to £50 on one good brush at MAC, you can spend that same amount and get a set of three or four great brushes by Real Techniques.

My personal brush collection is a huge combination of MAC, Real Techniques, and other random brushes. I have accumulated this set over time as, like I said, brushes can be quite expensive and I definitely don't have the money to spend €300 on brushes in one go. (But oh, how I wish I did).

Maybe in a future post I will show you guys my entire brush collection, but for now I thought I'd give you a quick rundown of my all time favorites, and maybe give you an idea of the types of brushes that are essential in your kit/collection.

1. FOUNDATION

A good foundation brush is a good foundation to your collection (see what I did there? Dadjoke.) Lot's of people like using a blending sponge or their hands rather than a brush which is totally cool too, try all three and see which one you like best. I personally prefer a brush because I find it's the least messy, and is quite quick and easy to use. I have about 5 foundation brushes but my favorite is this real techniques buffing brush, which came in the core collection set. The entire set is available at many different drugstores or online.

Real Techniques Core collection, £22/€16.24/$18, available here/here

2. BLUSH

This blush brush was one of the first brushes I bought, and it's still the only blush brush I own, since this one is so great I didn't find it necessary to buy another one. It's shaped to fit the shape of your cheek, and it's dense enough to pack on product, but soft enough for blending, making your blush look natural.

MAC 116, £28/€34/$35, available here/here/here

3. CONTOUR

I used to own a round, small contour brush, but found that the shape of the brush didn't work with the shape of my face and made my contour far too wide. This brush however, is shaped perfectly to fit in the hollows of your cheeks, and because of it's flat edge creates a perfect natural contour.

MAC 168, £28/€34/$35, available here/here/here

4. HIGHLIGHT/FAN

I got this brush from my manager at UD because it was part of an old set we were getting rid of, but any kind of fan brush works perfect for highlight. It's so flat that it really packs on the product, and the fan shape of the brush places the product in a slight bend on the cheekbone, so the highlight looks more natural and less like a white stripe.

5. CREASE/BLENDING (DENSE)

As you can probably tell, I am really fond of the MAC brushes because of their amazing quality, relatively good price, and because they last ages! This is another one of my first brushes and I must have had it for about 3 years, but I still use it every day without problem. I love using this dense fluffy brush for applying color to my crease and blending shades together, but this brush can be used for a number of things, even including cream products such as concealer.

MAC 217, £20/€22/$25 available here/here/here

6. CREASE/BLENDING (SOFT)

If I've packed product on to heavy, or just want to do a light, natural look, this soft fluffy brush works wonders. It's less dense than the 217 brush so it can sweep off any unwanted product or create a very light, soft look. It's great for blending out transition colors, and can even be used for applying highlight.

MAC 224, £23.50/€34/$32, available here/here/here

7. BROWBONE/DETAIL

The last MAC brush on this list is this little flat brush, which is very small and dense. I love using this brush to highlight under the brow bone, or to apply some shadow on the bottom lash line.

MAC 214, £21/€27/$25, available here/here/here

8. FLAT/APPLICATION

This UD brush is one half of a double ended brush, but I tend to use this side for applying product onto the lid. The other side is a flat, fluffy brush, which can be used for blending or applying a little less product to the lid than this flat side. This brush is not available to buy separate but comes in all of the Naked palettes, so, you know- all the more reason to buy the palette you've always wanted.

9.BROW/ANGLED

I picked this brush up at Wallmart three years ago and it has been my trusty companion ever since. I always use this brush to do my eyebrows, and have a complete meltdown every time I misplace it. It's angled and hard, so it creates really sharp lines, but the individual bristles make filling in your brows look super natural. Any kind of angled brush is the best brush to use for your brows, and once you're hooked, you won't be able to do them any other way. So beware.

Revlon Double Ended Smokey Eye Brush, $5.99, available here

There you have it! What are your brush kit essentials? And which brands do you like to use? Let me know!

xoxo,

Rowan